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Israel over the past few years has significantly improved its methods of preventing terrorist attacks at home. But that doesn't mean the terrorists are any less eager to kill Israelis, just that they need to find a new venue for their mayhem.

This week, a dual Lebanese-Swedish citizen on trial in Cyprus admitted to being a member of Lebanon's Hezbollah terrorist militia, and confessed to scouting locations where large groups of Israeli vacationers could be attacked.

Hossam Taleb Yakoub said he had found several places, including hotels, where Israelis were present in abundance. Cyprus is a popular vacation spot for Israelis.

Yakoub explained that his local contact was a man code-named "Haman" - a fitting moniker given the upcoming festival of Purim - and that Hezbollah and other terror groups are very active across Europe. Yakoub himself had carried out missions in France, Holland and Cyprus.

Yakoub sought to lessen his sentence by claiming that he had no intention of directly taking part in any attacks on Israelis, but felt compelled to aid Hezbollah in order to "defend Lebanon."

The news comes just days after an investigation in Bulgaria concluded that Hezbollah was behind last year's bus bombing in the city of Burgas that killed five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian driver.

The Israeli daily Israel Hayom reported that Nigeria had also recently arrested three Iranian suspects who were apparently scouting locations to carry out attacks on Israelis and Americans visiting that country.

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